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I know DoC *hates* Russell lupins, and spends much time, energy & money trying to exterminate them from DoC-controlled land - but my heart sings when I see them in full bloom just out of Arthurs Pass, and around the Waimak' riverbed there. And same organ is also gratified by the autumnal red of various importedtrees there, and throughout the South - and the rosehips! Lovely selections all, and I am especially in awe of the rainbow cake!

Black & white in the age of digital seems more like an easy way to hide your failures, than the film era demonstration of talent for capturing light & shadow.

Some of Jonathan & Robyn & Jackson's pictures in that original post were shot on black & white film.Digital photographers don’t have the option to shoot true black & white, because their cameras all use colour sensors. My camera has a “black & white” mode, but this works by de-saturating an original colour image. After that you have no control in post-processing.If I want a digital photo to be black & white, having the original in colour is a good thing, because after desaturating it you can still adjust the original colour balance to give the effect of using colour filters on a black & white film shoot. This is not to cover up “mistakes” because I have no option but to take a colour image.

If I want a digital photo to be black & white, having the original in colour is a good thing, because after desaturating it you can still adjust the original colour balance to give the effect of using colour filters on a black & white film shoot. This is not to cover up "mistakes" because I have no option but to take a colour image.

I was fascinated to discover that deciphering the information in a colour image takes around four times as much measured brain activity as it does for black and white. That was back in the days when B&W TV sets were still common, and I'd noticed that if a TV was on with the sound turned down, colour was much harder to ignore. While their resolution left much to be desired, those analog colour TVs could reproduce the full visible spectrum. Hence their seductive nature that easily overwhelms the senses of little children.

As Tom's inaugural winning Capture pic demonstrated, invoking the power of the kingdom of shadows can produce a striking image by isolating the elements that really matter.

I saw pictures of the "bright carmine" in a book on one of Prince Charlie's gardens; it was considered odd to actually plant them. I love monbretia: my wild backyard in Oriental Bay was covered in them and wilding agapathus in long grass running down the hill to huge mamaku by the rubbish bins.